


you can hear it in the silence

by coalitiongirl_ficlets (coalitiongirl)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6660682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coalitiongirl/pseuds/coalitiongirl_ficlets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[The first time Emma says <i>I love you</i>.]</p><p>And when it’s over, it’s just like all the times early on when you’d exchanged smiles and meaningful looks and never quite knew whether or not you could go further than that without overstepping. You weren’t <i>friends</i>, not at first, and <i>We did it/Yes, we did</i> had been safe.</p><p>It’s just like those times except now, Regina leans in and you brush a kiss against her lips and say, “Granny’s?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	you can hear it in the silence

**Author's Note:**

> it's been forever since i properly moved tumblr fics here! so here we go, a couple at a time~
> 
> this one was inspired by [this post](http://barbie-shoes.tumblr.com/post/126471604474/ive-realized-i-wouldnt-want-a-big-dramatic-i).
> 
> i'm sorry all my fic titles are tswift songs, idk why so many of them are on my writing playlist but they stICK. oh well.

It’s the end of the day and you’re exhausted. The last time you’d fought ogres, they’d been in the Enchanted Forest and your gun had been useless. The last time you’d fought them, your _mother_ had had to step in and take over for you and you’d been helpless in another world.

This time you’re standing on Main Street, back-to-back with Regina as you hurl magic at the very irritated creatures and they rear back and attack again. This time you can feel Regina’s presence behind you and you find comfort and strength in it. You never feel more capable as you do when you’re fighting beside Regina, not someone to protect or be protected by but an equal.

And when it’s over, it’s just like all the times early on when you’d exchanged smiles and meaningful looks and never quite knew whether or not you could go further than that without overstepping. You weren’t _friends_ , not at first, and _We did it/Yes, we did_ had been safe.

It’s just like those times except now, Regina leans in and you brush a kiss against her lips and say, “Granny’s?”

“Mm,” she breathes in agreement, and it’s the most casual thing in the universe. Your hands find each other instinctively and swing between you as you walk, both of them still sparking a bit at contact. Regina laughs deep in her throat and you stroke her wrist with your thumb in response.

And when you get to the diner it’s just like any other day. Your parents are there with Neal toddling around their chairs, Henry crouching in front of him to make sure he doesn’t fall, and they all brighten when they see you. “Ogres gone?” your mom asks, a note of pride in her voice, and you remember again the times when she’d had to protect you from them and it’s…

She feels kind of like a _mother_ in that moment, one you’ve grown into and are still learning to think of as such. “All taken care of,” you say, winking at your dad. He’d tossed you his sword before the fight and had been so proud about you using it that you don’t have the heart to tell him that you hadn’t bothered.

Regina, to her credit, keeps quiet and just nudges you teasingly instead. David beams.

You all gather around the table and eat dinner, sneaking fries off each other’s plates and making exasperated (that’s Regina) or proud (you) comments about how much Henry manages to scarf down in a three-minute time span. A few people stop by to inquire about the ogres. None of them thank you, but Henry’s so proud about informing them of your victory that you don’t even mind.

Your parents leave early to put Neal down for the night and Henry wanders to the counter to check out Granny’s selection of cheesecake. “He’s going to swallow his own tongue one of these days,” Regina says, resting her head on your shoulder. “How much taller can he _grow_?” He’s towering over both of you these days and very smug about it.

And it’s all…you just…you’ve spent the past few hours fighting a trio of _ogres_. You do your duty as sheriff and savior and you still come home at the end of the day to a family. There is no end-of-the-world scenario to worry about right now, no villains with master plans beyond _smash, break, eat_. This is your everyday now, and it isn’t going to change.

You have your work, you have your parents and brother, you have your son. And you have _Regina_ , after years of conflict and tenuous alliances and tentative friendship. You’ve fought so hard together for each other and your respective happiness and it isn’t going away anymore. This is real. This is permanent. This is _home_.

Regina stands up, muttering something about salvaging what’s left of Henry’s digestive system, and you call after her, “Hey.”

“Hey,” she echoes, brow furrowing like _Hey. Hey_ in Neverland, back when you’d still been wary but you’d known her regardless. (You’d known her as _mother,_ as _queen_ , as _ally_ and _enemy_. You’d known her as _Regina_.)

And these are words that usually emerge with weight, with fear, with the risk of an ending looming in the distance. These are words you’ve never been able to say for the first time without expecting loss and death and loneliness again.

“I love you,” you say, and the words are light and soft and easy. And you look into Regina’s startled eyes, so full of the kind of love you’d always seen as ephemeral and untouchable until now, and you see the future gleaming within them.


End file.
